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Barbara Kay: Shame on the UN for commemorating 25 years of toxic antizionism

As a child in the 1950s, I remember my idealistic heart swelling as my classmates and I belted out the stirring lyrics to the anthem, “United Nations on the March,” the only contribution the Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich ever wrote for Hollywood, featured in the 1943 film, Thousands Cheer.

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The song had many verses, all projecting a world finally cleansed of ancient hatreds, conflict and oppression. The one that sticks in my memory goes, “As sure as the sun meets the morning/ And rivers go down to the sea/ A new day for mankind is dawning/ Our children shall live proud and free,” segueing to the chorus, “United nations on the march with flags unfurled/ Together fight for victory, a free new world.”

Barbara Kay: Shame on the UN for commemorating 25 years of toxic antizionism Back to video

Swathed in the song’s sentiments, the actual United Nations officially launched in 1945. Sadly, it wasn’t long before human nature, clashing national interests, ideology, bloc voting and — yes — “ancient hatreds” converged to mock the kumbaya rhetoric surrounding the UN’s founding. Every utopian scheme needs a scapegoat for its failure to achieve its impossible goal, and the UN found its handiest popular whipping boy in Zionism.

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